Vaccines are a public health issue — not a union issue

How many union leaders graduated from medical school?

Do you check with your union before you get a tuberculosis test, which is mandatory if you work with children? It’s mandatory even if you’re a volunteer.

Do you, for that matter, check with your union before making sure that your children get all the typical vaccines that are required before they can go to school?

Do you check with your union before undergoing a medical procedure.

Mandated vaccines, including for COVID-19, are not a union issue.

They are a public health issue.

Clare Donovan, Westchester

Vaccine is help from above

I’ve heard people say they don’t need to get vaccinated, that God will protect them, and that when it’s time, it’s time. Have they ever stopped to think that the people responsible for developing these miracle, life-saving COVID-19 vaccines may have been on their knees the night before, praying to the Lord to give them the knowledge and strength to carry on? Please do not use God as an excuse for not getting vaccinated.

I’m reminded of the story of the woman in the flood who turns away three boats that were sent to save her. Sometimes help from the Lord comes in the form of a man in a rowboat. In this case, the rowboat is a vaccine.

Louise Bajorek, Burbank

Impact of the Big Lie goes on

Recently, U.S. District Judge Linda Parker ordered sanctions against Sidney Powell and eight other pro-Trump lawyers who filed a lawsuit trying to overturn Michigan’s 2020 election results. Judge Parker said the lawyers engaged in a “historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.” She said the lawsuit was never about purported election fraud, but really about “undermining the people’s faith in our democracy and debasing the judicial process to do so.”

Judge Parker is recommending that these lawyers be referred to their home state bar associations for possible loss of their licenses. Brava, Judge Parker. There must be significant consequences for such abuses of the legal system.

This is one more glaring and very serious example of Donald Trump’s many attempts to corrupt our democratic institutions and weaken people’s trust in these institutions. This is a direct threat to our democracy. The effects of the Big Lie are far from over.

Bob Chimis, Elmwood Park

More troopers on expressways

Regarding the recent increase in shootings on Chicago expressways, it should be noted that the Illinois State Police are responsible for patrolling thee routes, not the City of Chicago. The state should add more manpower to its expressway patrols, especially in known hot spots in the evening. It is a rare event to see a state police car on the highway at anytime.

As to the use of automated license plate readers, I agree that we do not need an all-encompassing blanket of government control over our lives. The Illinois Legislature, though, could limit the use of license plate readers to specific areas: hit and run accidents, stolen cars and, of course, shootings on the expressways.

Gerald Licko, Lincoln Park